Michael Jerling
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Long Black Wall
c1982 by Michael JerlingFrom the album Early Jerling
A Green Beret came to talk to us Gave a slide show in the gym Told about the Communists and the punji sticks I thought I'd like to be like him Long black wall And nothing is undone Long black wall Sleeping in the sun Chicago summer, 1968 Some high school kids out on a lark Waved to the cameras on the evening news And got teargassed in Grant Park Long black wall And nothing is the same Long black wall Shining in the rain Everyone in college was against the war We had long hair and Nixon stunk Draft number high, draft number low Stayed out all night and got real drunk The vets came back on the G.I. Bill In their field jackets and jeans Drank black coffee and smoked cigarettes And never spoke of what they'd seen Long black wall And nothing left to say Long black wall So many miles away The man on TV said ten years had gone Today a monument was raised And when they wrote each name one art a time The roll of dead took four whole days Long black wall And nothing is the same Long black wall Shining in the rain Long black wall And nothing is undone Long black wall Sleeping in the sun
